It’s Bill Gates vs. Roger Federer, round two. The Microsoft co-founder and tennis legend are getting together on the court again to help raise money for children’s education in Africa via the Roger Federer Foundation. They first duked it out in Seattle this past April, meeting at KeyArena in front of a sold-out crowd that enjoyed a fun battle with Gates, Federer, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, and American tennis star John Isner. On March 5 they’ll do it again for “Match for Africa 5,” this time welcoming another top-ranked American tennis player, Jack Sock, and NBC’s Today show host Savannah Guthrie at the… Read More
Bill Gates admits that he’s normally pretty composed in front of a large group of people, but playing tennis in front of 16,000 did trigger some nerves in the Microsoft co-founder. In a new post on his Gates Notes blog, the billionaire philanthropist provided a recap of the Saturday tennis match in which he teamed with legendary player Roger Federer to take on American pro John Isner and Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready. The Match for Africa charity event at Seattle’s Key Arena raised $2 million for Federer’s foundation. Gates wrote that accepting the invitation from Federer was a “no-brainer” and… Read More
With the lights dimmed and music bumping, a sold-out crowd at Key Arena roared on Saturday evening as tennis legend Roger Federer emerged from the smoke and onto the court for the first time ever in Seattle. The raucous cheers continued as his most unlikely of playing partners — Bill Gates — trotted in just afterward, introduced on the loudspeaker as “the Emerald City phenom known for his world wide web of skill.” The Microsoft co-founder wore a huge smile as he saluted his hometown fans with one hand raised and for a moment nearly burned himself as he passed by a flamethrower. Yes, this was going… Read More
Roger Federer will play tennis in Seattle for the first time and he’ll have a unique partner with him on the court: Bill Gates. The tennis legend and 18-time Grand Slam champion will come to town on April 29 for a charity event supporting his foundation. He’ll play an exhibition match against American star John Isner at Key Arena and will also team up with Gates to play a one-set doubles match against Isner and a surprise celebrity partner. The event marks the fourth “Match for Africa” day for the Roger Federer Foundation, which has given $29 million to support children’s education in six African countries and… Read More
Bill Gates wants to help improve the safety of football players. The Microsoft co-founder is listed on a recently-filed patent application along with 20 other inventors — including several from Bellevue-based patent holding company Intellectual Ventures — for a sensor-laden helmet that could detect concussion-causing impacts, and an apparatus that could assess damage to the helmet itself. The patent references a helmet that is “configured to reduce impact forces, torques, and accelerations to the head of a user in cases of impacts or collisions to the user’s head,” like during a football game, for example. The helmet has sensors that can measure impact data and… Read More
